Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb

al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) was a Salafi Islamist terrorist group affiliated with al-Qaeda. Formed in 2006 after Ayman al-Zawahiri announced the union of al-Qaeda and the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC), AQIM declared war on the West, kidnapping French and Spanish civilians and also being responsible for attacks in West Africa.

History
al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb was declared in 2006 when al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri and Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC) leader Abu Musab Abdel Wadoud announced a "blessed union" between the two groups. al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb carried out attacks from Algeria to Niger, with North Africa and West Africa being their areas of operation. During the Malian Civil War, AQIM assisted Ansar Dine and the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (MOJWA) in their war against the government of Mali. In addition, in 2011 Abdel Wadoud offered to train and assist the protesters to help in the establishment of sharia law in Tunisia. Veterans of the Iraq War against the United States and the fighting in the Gaza Strip against Israel were recruited into AQIM, and the organization was responsible for numerous terrorist attacks against Algeria and foreigners. In November 2015, it carried out the 2015 Bamako hotel attack in cooperation with former AQIM commander Mokhtar Belmokhtar's al-Mourabitoun terrorist group, killing 19 foreigners in a failed hostage-taking.